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California Rep. Barbara Lee last week introduced legislation in the U.S. House that would protect marijuana states from federal enforcement.

New legislation introduced in the United States House proposes to prohibit the federal government from enforcing federal cannabis law in states where marijuana has been legalized.

The Restraining Excessive Federal Enforcement & Regulations of Cannabis (REFER) Act of 2018 (HR 4779) was introduced last week by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) in response to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ rescinding the Cole memo earlier this month.

The federal policy had protected state-legal marijuana from federal interference. Sessions’ move to revoke the policy indicates the Trump administration could be planning a crackdown, prompting this new bill, which would nip funding for such a crackdown in the bud.

The REFER Act would ensure there’s no federal interference in state-legal marijuana by prohibiting federal agencies from spending money to “detail, prosecute, sentence, or initiate civil proceedings against an individual, business or property, that is involved in the cultivation, distribution, possession, dispensation, or use of cannabis” when operations comply with state law and local regulations. The legislation would also protect banks that service state-legal cannabis businesses.

Congresswoman Lee commented in a statement, “The federal government should respect the will of the voters in states that have voted to decriminalize cannabis. It’s time to stop wasting taxpayer money on the failed War on Drugs.”